Suction cleaning apparatus



March 20, 1945. c H TAYLOR 2,372,033

SUCTION CLEANING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-sheaf. 1

m R Y m .M 5 E l 2 m 5 r Mm 4 fimm u C r m ew- 2 n KZZI 3 2 M w 2 m G .n a E o 2 ATTORNEY March 20,1945. c. H. TAYLOR 2 372 0 SUCTION CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 15, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. IO 5 INVENTOR CHARLES MYLOR BY 1M 3 A TORNEY Patented Mar. 20, 1945 SUCTION CLEANING APPARATUS Charles H. Taylor, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Westinghouse Electric! Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of.

Pennsylvania provide an improved valve mechanism for a con-- vertible'suction cleaner in which the attachment hose or connection may be permanently carried Application January 13, 1943, Serial No. 472,209

4 Claims.

by the cleaner so as to be available for instant use.

A still further object of my invention is to produce an improved construction of a convertible cleaner which is easily operated and inexpensively produced and assembled.

A characteristic feature of my invention is that movement of the attachment hose or connection from its inoperative to its operative position automatically diverts the suction from the conventional floor-contacting nozzle to said attachment hose or connection and vice versa.

A further characteristic of the invention is that the movement of the attachment hose or connection from its inoperative to its operative position also automatically raises the floor nozzle of the cleaner, or the rotary agitator usually mounted in said nozzle, out of contact with the supporting surface while the cleaner is used on walls, furniture, and the like.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following descriptionand claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view, inside elevation, of a suction cleaner embodying this invention; v

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with a portion of the outer casing broken away to show details of construction, certain parts being omitted and others shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the position of the parts when'the cleaner has been converted from on-the-fioor to off-the-floor cleaning;

Fig. 4 is a view partly in section on line IVIV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is 'a perspective view of a valve member constituting part of my invention;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the valve shown in i 5;

Figs. '7 and 8 are fragmentary views, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing means for lifting the nozzle when the suction cleaner is converted to oif-the-floor cleaning;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view on line IX-IX of Fig. 7; and,

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 7, showing a modified construction.

Referring specifically to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a suction cleaner I 2 having a nozzle l4 and supporting front and rear wheels l6 and la. The cleaner I2 is also provided with a suitable propelling handle and a fan-motor unit (not shown) for creating suction through the nozzle l4 and into a filter bag 22. In the nozzle I4 is located the usual brush roll 24 which is rotated by a belt 25 which in turn is driven from the shaft 28 of the motor.

Connecting the interior of the nozzle I4 with the interior of the dust filter bag 22 is a passage 26 which is best seen in Figs. 2 and 4. In floor cleaning, the suction created by the ianmotor unit draws the dirt-lader air upwardly through the nozzle l4 and the passage 26 into the bag 22, in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 2. The filtered air is exhausted, after passing through the bag 22, in any suitable manner (not shown). In order to be able to convert the machine from the hand-propelled type to the tank type,

or from on-the-floor to the oiT-the-floor cleaning, I provide the valve member 30, which is best seen in Figs. 5 and 6, and which comprises an elongated body 3|, generally U-shaped in cross section, havingone end 32 thereof closed and having a neck or connecting nipple 34 at the other end thereof. 'As will be seen from Figs. 3 and 4,

the valve is disposed transversely of the passage 26 with the connecting nipple 34 of said valve extending through a suitable opening in the side of the casing l2 to be engaged by the end 36 of an elbow fitting 38. To the other end of the fitting 38 is connected one end ofa flexible hose 40, the other end of which is adapted to be connected to any desired cleaning tools. When not in use, the hose 4!! is disposed in the position shown in solid lines in Figs. 1 and 2 and is detachably carried by the handle 20 in any desired manner. The fitting 38 may be detachably connected to the casing l2 or to the end 34 of the valve 30, or, alternatively, the hose 0 may be detachably secured to the fitting 38 as may be desired.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen to provide a pocket l2 in which the valve 30 is disposed, when the cleaner is used for floor nozzle cleaning, so that one of the side walls 3! of the valve 30 forms a continuation of the inner wall of the nozzle I l and the passage 26. In this position, the valve 30 in no way obstructs the flow of air through the nozzle 14 and the passage 28 and, since the hose 40 is carried by the handle 20, the entire cleaner is operated as a conventional floor cleaner. When it is desired to convert the cleaner, it is merely necessary to detach the hose to from the handle 20 and to move the hose 30 to the position shown in broken lines-in Figs. 1 and 3, or the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 8. Since the fitting 38 is fastened to the nipple 3d of the valve 30, the latter is rotated about a horizontal axis, in clockwise direction, from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that in this position, the valve 39 obstructs the passage 26 to prevent'the flow of air through the nozzle M. The suction created within the dust bag .22 is now diverted to the cleaning tool (not shown) at the other end of the hose 40. The dirt-laden air, drawn through this cleaning tool by the suction-creating device, now iiows through the hose 4D and the fitting 38 into the valve 30, the open side of which is in registration with the upper, open end of the passage 26 which leads into the filter bag 22. The path of flow of the dirt-laden air is shown by the arrows in Fig. 4.

In order to prevent the damage, commonly known as brush burn, which may result from the rotation of the brush roll 24' at high speed against the same spot of the floor covering on which the cleaner rests, I provide means, operable by the conversion of the cleaner, to raise the brush roll 2 out of contact with the floor covering. This may be done by raising the entire nozzle in which the brush roll is mounted, or it may be done by raising the brush roll itself independently of the nozzle.

One form of means for raising the nozzle relative to the floor covering is shown diagrammatically in Figs. 1, 7, and 8. It will be seen from these figures that this means includes a link 44 connected at its lower end to the shaft 56 which supports the front wheels 16, and connected at its upper end to the nipple 36 of the fitting 38. The link 44 is adapted to be actuated by a cam or eccentric 58 which is rotatable with the elbow 38. The shaft 46 supporting the front wheels I is mounted for vertical movement in a slot 50. With the extension hose 4!] in the position shown in Fig. 7, and with the cleaner used for floor cleaning, the shaft 46 is in its uppermost position in Ill) the slot 50, the wheels l6 are in their uppermost position, and the nozzle 14 is depressed to efiect normal contact with the floor covering. When the hose 40 is in the position shown in Fig. 8 and the valve 30 has been rotated to divert suction to the hose 4D, the cam or eccentric 48 is also rotated to the position shown in Fig. 8, thus actuating the link downwardly to depressthewheels l6 and correspondingly elevate the nozzle Hi.

In Fig. 10, I show one form of means for elevating the brush roll 24 independently of the nozzle N. This means includes the same link 44, which.

instead of being connected to the front wheels I5. is pivoted at 52 to a lever 54 which is also pivoted at 56 to a bracket or the like 58 carried by the nozzle I4. The brush roll 24 is joumaled at B0 in bearings carried by the link 54. In this construction, the position of the cam or eccentric 48 is reversed so that, when the hose 40 is in the position shown in Fig. 10 and the cleaner is used for floor cleaning, the link 44 is depressed by the cam 48 to depress the lever 54 and thus bring the brush roll 24 into contact with the floor covering. It is obvious that if the hose in is rotated into the position shown in Fig. 8 to rotate the cam 58, the link 44 is moved upwardly to raise the lever 54 and thus lift the brush roll 24 out of contact with the floor covering while the cleaner is used'for oif-the-fioor cleaning. 7

In order to exert the elevating action of the link 4% and cam :38 on the'front wheels it on both sides of the cleaner, an extension shaft 52 is secured to the closed end 32 of the valve 38, said shaft 62 being rotatable with said valve and being provided at its other end with the same mechanism.

It will be seen from the foregoing that whenever the cleaner is used for normal floor cleaning through the nozzle Hi, the nozzle is automatically adjusted for proper floor contact, and conversely, that whenever the cleaner is converted, the nozzle or the brush roll is elevated to prevent damage to the carpet being cleaned. It will further be seen that, by means of the converting mechanism provided, the cleaner can be used as a handle-propelled cleaner or as a tank-type cleaner both on floor coverings in the usual manner or for ofi-the-fioor cleaning as may be desired.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In. a suction cleaner, a casing having a floor nozzle, a suction-creating device and a passage connecting said nozzle and said suction-creating device, there being a through opening in a wall of said casing leading to said passage, a tubular valve member rotatably mounted transversely of said passage, said valve member having an open end which is ofiset with respect to the body of said valve member and seated in said opening, there being a side opening in one side or" said valve member extending parallel with its axis of rotation, and an attachment hose connected to the offset end of said valve member and adapted, in one position of said valve, to communicate with said suction-creating device through said valve and said sideopening, said valve member and said hose being so constructed and arranged that when said hose is moved to' one position, said valve member is rotated into a position.obstructing said passage to divert suction from said nozzle to said hose through said side opening, and when said hose is moved to another position, said valve member is moved to a non-obstructing position and said side opening is closed to divert suction from said hose and to restore suction through said passage to said nozzle.

2. Ina suction cleaner; a casing having a floor nozzle, a suction-creating device in said casing, and a passage connecting said nozzle and said suction-creating device, there being a recess formed in a wall of said passage and extending transversely thereof, a hollow valve member having a side opening and an end opening, means mounting said valve member for rotation, about the axis of said end opening, into a first position in which said valve is seated in said pocket, and

into a second position in which said valve obstructs said passage, said'valve being so 'constructed and arranged that in said first position,

. posed transversely of said passage and including a side wall of said valve. member closes said pocket and forms a continuation of said wall ofsaid passage, and in said second position said side opening establishes communication between said suction device and the interior of said valve member, and an attachment hose communicating with the interior of said valve member through said end opening. i

3. The structure recited in claim 2 in which,

when said valve member is in said first position,

said side opening is closed by a wall of said pocket to prevent communication, between said hose and said suction-creating device.

4. In a suction cleaner, a casing having a floor nozzle, a suction-creating device in said casing. and a passage connecting said nozzle and said a body portion having a side opening therein,

there being an opening in a side wall of said cas- .does not obstruct, said passage and in which said side opening is closed by a wall of said passage and said second-mentioned opening is shut oif from said suction-creating device and communisuction-creating device, a valve member dis- :0

cation is re-established between said nozzle and said suction-creating device.

CHARLES H. TAYLOR. 

